STAFF:
Vicar Donald Helfer, Jr.
Vicar Donald Helfer, Jr. was born in Baltimore, Maryland and was baptized a “Child of God” at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Hampden. He has been a member of the Order of Saint Stephen Deacon of Maryland since 2010 and is now attending Seminary. He was set apart as a Lay Synodical Deacon on October 25, 2015, at Grace Lutheran Church in Westminster, Maryland by former Bishop Wolfgang Hertz Lane. Vicar Don faithfully served as a Lay Deacon for Jerusalem Lutheran Church from November 2015 to December 2019.
Vicar Don has volunteered with Community of St. Dymas, the ELCA’s prison ministry, and currently serves Resurrection Lutheran Parish coordinating youth group activities including Vacation Bible School, National Youth Gatherings, and various mission trips. He preaches on Sundays as part of the rotation for the five churches in Resurrection Lutheran Parish. You can also find him out in the community sowing seeds of hope and sharing in the wonder of God’s amazing grace!
Pastor Susan Roy
Reverend Dr. Susan Carole Roy earned a BA from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin (1984), a MDiv from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (1988), and a DMin from Wesley Theological Seminary in DC (2006). Her Doctoral studies in Spirituality and Story taught her skills to help people. She completed Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) theory papers demonstrating competencies in professional healthcare chaplaincy, and was approved for Eccelesiastical Endorsement by the ELCA and Board Certification as a Chaplain by the Association of Professional Chaplains (1997).
Ordained in 1989, she served 15 months as a Urban Resident at Augustana in East Baltimore learning the principles of neighborhood ministry. She was then called as Pastor of Salem in South Baltimore from 1991-1997, where she applied those principles to help the parish further develop a vision and mission for ministry with the neighborhood.
Pastor Susan transitioned to specialized ministry in 1997 with her call to serve as Director of Pastoral Care and Board-Certified Chaplain at the University of Maryland Medical Center, where she served for 27 years until 2025. UMMC is a 650 patient tertiary, academic medical center with 11 Intensive Care Units, both an Adult and Pediatric Emergency Department, and the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, an Adult Primary Resource Center (PARC) receiving the most critically injured.
She provided direct pastoral care to patients, their families, and staff, throughout her tenure while providing leadership to grow the department’s capacity, supervising Staff Chaplains and volunteers from all faith traditions, and developing programmatic initiatives. During her time at UMMC, she honed chaplaincy skills in anticipatory, disenfranchised, and complicated grief, trauma informed pastoral care, active and reflective listening, psychological and spiritual first-aid, debriefing protocols, and resiliency skills supporting healthcare providers to maintain purpose and meaning in their work as a sacred calling.
Pastor Susan enjoys gardening, cooking, walking with her dog, and enjoying a good book with her cats. She now serves as Interim Campus Pastor for both Jerusalem and Immanuel Lutheran Churches.
COUNCIL MEMBERS and OFFICERS:
Elmer Myers, President
Don Pennington, Vice-President
Lisa Alford, Secretary and O.S.S.D. Candidate (messages at Saturday Folk Services), Resurrection Lutheran Parish Council Member
Kelley M. McIver, Treasurer and Financial Secretary, Resurrection Lutheran Parish Interim President
Donald Morris, At-Large Member
Edward McIver, Resurrection Lutheran Parish Mutual Ministry Committee